Yehoshua 23-24

Orthodox Jewish Bible

23 And it came to pass yamim rabbim after Hashem had given manoach unto Yisroel from all their surrounding enemies, that Yehoshua was zaken and advanced in days.

² And Yehoshua called for Kol Yisroel, and for their zekenim, and for their Rashim, and for their Shofetim, and for their Shoterim, and said unto them, I am zaken and advanced in days;

³ And ye have seen all that Hashem Eloheichem hath done unto all these Goyim for your sakes; for Hashem Eloheichem is He that hath fought for you.

⁴ Remember I have allotted unto you these Goyim that remain, to be a nachalah for your shvatim, from the Yarden, even kol HaGoyim that I have cut off, even unto the Yam HaGadol [Mediterranean Sea] toward the setting of the shemesh.

⁵ And Hashem Eloheichem, He shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, just as Hashem Eloheichem hath promised unto you.

⁶ Therefore chazak! Be very courageous to be shomer and to do all that is written in the Sefer Torah Moshe, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right or to the left;

⁷ That ye come not among these Goyim, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the shem of eloheihem, nor have to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down unto them;

⁸ But have deveykus unto Hashem Eloheichem, just as ye have done unto this day.

⁹ For Hashem hath driven out from before you Goyim Gedolim and atzumim (powerful ones); but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.

¹⁰ Ish echad of you shall chase eleph; for Hashem Eloheichem, He it is that fighteth for you, just as He hath promised you.

¹¹ Be shomer me’od therefore unto yourselves, that ye love Hashem Eloheichem.

¹² Else if ye do in anywise turn back, and have deveykus unto the remnant of these Goyim, even these that remain among you, and shall intermarry with them, associate with them, and they with you;

¹³ Have da’as for a certainty that Hashem Eloheichem will no more drive out any of these Goyim from before you; but they shall be pach (snares) and mokesh (traps) unto you, and shot (scourges) on your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this adamah hatovah which Hashem Eloheichem hath given you.

¹⁴ And, hinei, now I am going the derech kol ha’aretz; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your nefashot, that not one thing hath failed of all the devarim hatovim which Hashem Eloheichem promised concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

¹⁵ Therefore it shall come to pass, that just as kol hadavar hatov are come upon you, which Hashem Eloheichem promised you; so shall Hashem bring upon you kol hadavar harah, until He hath destroyed you from off this adamah hatovah which Hashem Eloheichem hath given you.

¹⁶ When ye have transgressed the Brit Hashem Eloheichem, which He commanded you, and have gone and served elohim acharim, and bowed down yourselves to them; then shall the Af Hashem be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off HaAretz Hatovah which He hath given unto you.

24 And Yehoshua gathered Kol Shivtei Yisroel to Shechem, and called for the Ziknei Yisroel, and for their Rashim, and for their shofetim, and for their shoterim; and they presented themselves before HaElohim.

² And Yehoshua said unto Kol HaAm, Thus saith Hashem Elohei Yisroel, Avoteichem dwelt on the other side of the [Euphrates] River long ago, even Terach, Avi Avraham, and Avi Nachor: and they served elohim acherim.

³ But I took Avichem Avraham from the other side of the [Euphrates] River, and led him through Kol Eretz Kena’an, and multiplied his zera, and gave him Yitzchak.

⁴ And I gave unto Yitzchak Ya’akov and Esav; and I gave unto Esav Mt Seir, to possess it; but Ya’akov and his banim went down into Mitzrayim.

⁵ I sent Moshe also and Aharon, and I plagued Mitzrayim, according to that which I did among them; and afterward I brought you out.

⁶ And I brought Avoteichem out of Mitzrayim; and ye came unto the Yam [Suf]; the Mitzrayim pursued after Avoteichem with chariots and parashim unto the Yam Suf.

⁷ And when they cried unto Hashem, He put darkness between you and the Mitzrayim, and brought the yam upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Mitzrayim; and ye dwelt in the midbar yamim rabbim.

⁸ And I brought you into the Eretz HaEmori, the ones dwelling on the other side of the Yarden; they fought against you; I gave them into your yad, that ye might possess their land; I destroyed them from before you.

⁹ Then Balak ben Tzippor Melech Moav arose and warred against Yisroel, and sent and summoned Balaam ben Beor to curse you;

¹⁰ But I would not pay heed unto Balaam; therefore he made a brocha over you; so I saved you out of his yad.

¹¹ And you went over the Yarden, and came unto Yericho; and the Ba’alei Yericho fought against you, and HaEmori, and the Perizzi, and the Kena’ani, and the Chitti, and the Girgashi, the Chivi, and the Yevusi; and I gave them into your yad.

¹² And I sent the tzirah (hornet) before you, which drove them out ahead of you, even the two melachim of the Emori; but not with thy cherev, nor with thy keshet.

¹³ So I have given you an Eretz for which ye did not toil, and towns which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; kramim and zetim (olive groves) which ye eat but did not plant.

¹⁴ Now therefore fear Hashem, serve Him batamim (completely) and in emes; put away the elohim which Avoteichem served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River, and in Mitzrayim; and serve ye Hashem.

¹⁵ And if it seem rah unto you to serve Hashem, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the elohim which Avoteichem served that were on the other side of the River, or the elohei HaEmori, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my bais, we will serve Hashem.

¹⁶ And the people answered and said, Chalilah lanu (far be it from us) that we should forsake Hashem, to serve elohim acharim;

¹⁷ For Hashem Eloheinu, He it is that brought us up and Avoteinu out of Eretz Mitzrayim, from the bais avadim, and which did those haotot hagedolot in our sight, and was shomer over us in kol HaDerech in which we went, and among Kol HaAmim through whom we passed;

¹⁸ And Hashem drove out from before us Kol HaAmim, even HaEmori which dwelt in HaAretz; therefore will we also serve Hashem; for He is Eloheinu.

¹⁹ And Yehoshua said unto HaAm, Ye are not able to serve Hashem; for He is an Elohim Kedoshim; He is an El Kanno (jealous G-d); He will not forgive your paysha’im nor your chattot.

²⁰ If ye forsake Hashem, and serve elohei nekhar (foreign g-ds), then He will turn and bring you rah, and consume you, after that He hath done you tov.

²¹ And HaAm said unto Yehoshua, No; but we will serve Hashem.

²² And Yehoshua said unto HaAm, Ye are edim against yourselves that ye have chosen for you Hashem, to serve Him. And they said, We are edim.

²³ Now therefore put away, said he, the elohei hanechar which are among you, and yield your levav unto Hashem Elohei Yisroel.

²⁴ And HaAm said unto Yehoshua, Hashem Eloheinu will we serve, and His voice will we obey.

²⁵ So Yehoshua made a Brit with HaAm that day, and set them a chok and a mishpat at Shechem.

²⁶ And Yehoshua wrote these words in the Sefer Torah Elohim, and took an Even Gedolah, and set it up there under an oak, that was near the Mikdash Hashem.

²⁷ And Yehoshua said unto kol HaAm, Hinei, this Even (Stone) shall be as an edah (witness) unto us; for it hath heard all the words of Hashem which He spoke unto us; it shall be therefore as an edah (witness) unto you, lest ye are untrue to Eloheichem.

²⁸ So Yehoshua sent HaAm away, every man unto his nachalah.

²⁹ And it came to pass after these things, that Yehoshua ben Nun Eved Hashem, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

³⁰ And they buried him in the territory of his nachalah in Timnat Serach, which is in har Ephrayim, north of Mt Ga’ash.

³¹ And Yisroel served Hashem all the days of Yehoshua, and all the days of the Zekenim that outlived Yehoshua, and which had da’as of kol ma’asei Hashem, that He had done for Yisroel.

³² And the atzmot Yosef, which the Bnei Yisroel brought up out of Mitzrayim, they buried at Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Ya’akov bought of the Bnei Chamor Av Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver: and it became the nachalah of the Bnei Yosef.

³³ And Eleazar ben Aharon died; and they buried him on a hill that belonged to Pinchas his son, which was given him in har Ephrayim.